Rebecca Gomez knows how to turn
snacks into Eye-Kandy. That's what
she calls the purses she makes from
small bags that once held chips, candy
or drinks.
Gomez, 22 and an apparel design
student at LSU, has trademarked the
purses under Eye-Kandy Designs and
has sold more then 200 since she first
started making them in June. "It took
over an hour to make a purse at first,
and now I can make one in 30 minutes,"
she says. "I've gotten the hang of it."
She first washes and dries the
packages-let's say, Zapp's Potato
Chips-and makes a pattern by
overlaying the chip bags with plastic.
She then stitches them together and
adds a snap. The purses are durable
and spacious. Plus, they can be tailored
fit to anyone's special foods. She has
used chip bags, cereal boxes, waffle
boxes and squeeze drinks.
Too much 'pursenality'
Originally, Gomez called the
business Pursenality, but there were
too many business with that name. The
new name came to her in a dream.
As well as attending school part-time,
Gomez has been a full time beignet cook
at Cafe' Du Monde in the Mall of
Louisiana for four years. She grew up
in Buras, 60 miles south of New
Orleans, and is a native of
Guatemala. When she was 6,
her family immigrated to
Louisiana.
When she was 9
years old, she started col-
oring the plastic furniture in
her doll house to match the walls
of the rooms," her mother Rosemary
Ceballos, recalls. "She used
watercolors and changed the colors
often.
At 18, she put together a quilt and
loved doing it; that same year she
decided to be innovative when making a
cover for her memory book of her high
school activities. She used a CD, chip
bags, magazine covers, a picture of her
favorite band (311) and a small piece of
an ACT booklet to make a collage and
covered it with plastic.
In another creative venture, she used
CDs in her kitchen of her apartment,
using them as a back-splash of the
counter area on the walls. She also
loves going to flea markets, finding
bargains to restore.
snacks into Eye-Kandy. That's what
she calls the purses she makes from
small bags that once held chips, candy
or drinks.
Gomez, 22 and an apparel design
student at LSU, has trademarked the
purses under Eye-Kandy Designs and
has sold more then 200 since she first
started making them in June. "It took
over an hour to make a purse at first,
and now I can make one in 30 minutes,"
she says. "I've gotten the hang of it."
She first washes and dries the
packages-let's say, Zapp's Potato
Chips-and makes a pattern by
overlaying the chip bags with plastic.
She then stitches them together and
adds a snap. The purses are durable
and spacious. Plus, they can be tailored
fit to anyone's special foods. She has
used chip bags, cereal boxes, waffle
boxes and squeeze drinks.
Too much 'pursenality'
Originally, Gomez called the
business Pursenality, but there were
too many business with that name. The
new name came to her in a dream.
As well as attending school part-time,
Gomez has been a full time beignet cook
at Cafe' Du Monde in the Mall of
Louisiana for four years. She grew up
in Buras, 60 miles south of New
Orleans, and is a native of
Guatemala. When she was 6,
her family immigrated to
Louisiana.
When she was 9
years old, she started col-
oring the plastic furniture in
her doll house to match the walls
of the rooms," her mother Rosemary
Ceballos, recalls. "She used
watercolors and changed the colors
often.
At 18, she put together a quilt and
loved doing it; that same year she
decided to be innovative when making a
cover for her memory book of her high
school activities. She used a CD, chip
bags, magazine covers, a picture of her
favorite band (311) and a small piece of
an ACT booklet to make a collage and
covered it with plastic.
In another creative venture, she used
CDs in her kitchen of her apartment,
using them as a back-splash of the
counter area on the walls. She also
loves going to flea markets, finding
bargains to restore.
Sewing up more business
In December, she will sell purses and take
orders at the Orange Festival in Buras.
"The kids in my home town help collect
pouches and candy wrappers for me, and
my former math teacher, Suetta Burney,
collects for me." Her fiance' Blake, her
brother Miguel, and her mother help her
wash bags.
The Baton Rouge Bead Society invited her
to sell her purses at a fashion show at City
Park in June, and in October, she was
invited to have a booth a the Pumpkin
Patch Festival in Denham Springs.
"Eventually, I'd love to open a store
where I can make home decor items and
other things, like curtains-which I have
already done for friends in college-purses,
including hand painted ones, and I want to
make some belts. Perhaps, I can match up
some belts and purses. It's a joy for me to
put together the useful items," Gomez
says.
"Fun, creative and very rewarding. I love
it!"
In December, she will sell purses and take
orders at the Orange Festival in Buras.
"The kids in my home town help collect
pouches and candy wrappers for me, and
my former math teacher, Suetta Burney,
collects for me." Her fiance' Blake, her
brother Miguel, and her mother help her
wash bags.
The Baton Rouge Bead Society invited her
to sell her purses at a fashion show at City
Park in June, and in October, she was
invited to have a booth a the Pumpkin
Patch Festival in Denham Springs.
"Eventually, I'd love to open a store
where I can make home decor items and
other things, like curtains-which I have
already done for friends in college-purses,
including hand painted ones, and I want to
make some belts. Perhaps, I can match up
some belts and purses. It's a joy for me to
put together the useful items," Gomez
says.
"Fun, creative and very rewarding. I love
it!"
48, The Journal, November 2003
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